Video: Studying is hard, but it’s nothing a little magic can’t fix. Kaplan Singapore released a bizarre yet educational video teaching students how to maximise their study time thanks to “Dr Studious”.
Still via YouTube
Kaplan Singapore has released a video starring Singaporean YouTuber Franster Wong as Dr Studious, a hardworking magical being who just wants people to know how to study better and be good students. It has some decent tips, and decent effects to boot – reminds me a bit of this Doctor Strange SNL Korea parody, though that one was definitely funnier. And I’ve got to say, the way he warns students not to plagiarise from Google right before taking a swig of what looks to be strawberry milk is pure badarsery. No one interrupts milk time.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Kaplan University’s problems, which can mar the video’s cuteness. The 32,000-student online school has struggled with a deservedly bad reputation. It was part of a 2011 US congressional inquiry into for-profit colleges and online universities, leading to regulations that have since been halted by the Trump administration. Some of these schools (which mainly attract military veterans, lower-income individuals and first-generation students) have been criticised for pressuring students to enrol and then not delivering on degrees or credentials that can get them jobs, sinking them with student loan debt. Kaplan has made attempts to remedy some of the problems, and now Purdue University is looking to buy the online university – something opposed by hundreds of Purdue’s faculty.
The online university might be controversial, but at least students are getting some study help from a mystical source. So long as they don’t drink his milk.